South Korea's LIG Nex1 sees profits surge in 2020

South Korean firm LIG Nex1 has reported strong sales and profits for fiscal year (FY) 2020. The figures reflect continuing growth in defence spending in South Korea despite the Covid-19 pandemic.

LIG Nex1, which specialises in missiles and C4ISR technologies, said in a stock exchange filing that its revenues FY 2020 climbed year-on-year by 10% to KRW1.6 trillion (USD1.4 billion).

The company’s operating profit in FY 2020 was KRW63.7 billion: a 250% increase over the KRW18.1 billion it reported for 2019. Its EBITDA more than doubled to KRW115.3 billion.

LIG Nex1 reported that it had largely remained free from the adverse effects of Covid-19. It said that it forecasted “stable” domestic demand in military technologies in line with the South Korean government’s commitment to expand defence spending, which is related to growing strategic concerns about North Korea’s military modernisation.

LIG Nex1’s core business divisions include precision-guided munitions (PGM); intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR); command, control, communication, computer, intelligence (C4I) systems; as well as avionics, electronic warfare, and unmanned systems. In FY 2020 50% of sales were attributed to PGM, 30% to ISR, 14% to avionics, and 7% to C4I.

The company – based in Yongin, 40 km south of Seoul – is also at the forefront of efforts to develop next-generation 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR) capabilities for military applications, including artificial intelligence.